Opening Reception: Finding the Center & Jon Townley: Made in Earnest

Clay Art Center invites you to join us for the Opening Reception of concurrent exhibitions:

Finding The Center: The Clay Art Center Historic Collection & Made in Earnest: Ceramic Work by Jon Townley

This Opening Reception celebrates the historic past and contemporary present of Clay Art Center. Grounded in the objects on display, Finding the Center will tell the story of the artists who came through Clay Art Center and developed their creative voice there, and how they also impacted the world of ceramics. The exhibition will include ceramics from our historic collection, and a variety of supporting materials from our rarely-seen paper archives. Works by artists on display will include pieces from Viola Frey, Tashiko Takaezu, Makoto Yabe, F. Carlton Ball, Harding Black, Trude Petri-Raben, Ted Randall, Jeff Schlanger, and more.

Concurrently, Clay Art Center will celebrate the ceramic work of artist and Clay Art Center instructor Jon Townley with a solo exhibition. Made in Earnest presents a body of functional and sculptural work that has evolved into a perfect synthesis of form, technique, and mastery of ceramic materials. The work resonates with the Mid-Century aesthetics of Barbara Hepworth, Henry Moore, Ruth Duckworth, Brancusi, and others, where form comes first. Jon’s contemporary artistic voice speaks to the same forces that compelled artists in the earliest days of Clay Art Center to make, and to pursue a line of creative enquiry that can only be answered in clay.

Enjoy a Curator’s Talk, Artist Talk, light refreshments and Free Guided Tours of Artist Studios and Facilities.